Acclaimed immunologist, diabetes expert Bart Roep joins City of Hope

DUARTE, Calif. — Internationally recognized immunologist Bart O. Roep, M.D., Ph.D., has joined City of Hope as chair of the Department of Diabetes Immunology within the Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute. An expert in the potential of immune therapy to treat type 1 diabetes, Roep will expand the institution’s emphasis on developing new approaches to diabetes treatment and cure.

Known for his focus on T cells and the immune system, Roep comes to City of Hope from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, where he served as head of the Division of Autoimmunity and professor of medicine, diabetology, immunopathology and immune intervention therapy. He also served as director of the Netherlands’ National Diabetes Expert Center on Immunoprotection.

“City of Hope is delighted to welcome a scientist and immunologist of Dr. Roep’s caliber,” said Arthur D. Riggs, Ph.D., director of the Diabetes & Metabolism Research Institute at City of Hope. “His expertise and innovative approaches to the treatment of type 1 diabetes will further enable our Department of Diabetes Immunology to expand our understanding of the immune system’s role in diabetes.”

A recognized authority on multiple aspects of type 1 diabetes, including the potential for vaccine therapy to cure the disease, Roep has been honored with the JDRF Gerold & Kayla Grodsky Basic Research Scientist Award 2015 and the Minkowski Award for T1D Scientific Excellence 2004, the most prestigious national and European awards in diabetes. He also has published more than 300 articles and is founder and director of the Diabetes Trial Netherlands platform for clinical immune intervention therapy in the Netherlands.

“Dr. Roep’s presence at City of Hope provides significant opportunity for advancing scientific discoveries and developments of new therapies for type 1 diabetes and autoimmune diseases, and we are honored to have him on board,” said Fouad Kandeel, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Clinical Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism at City of Hope.

The institution is already renowned for its groundbreaking use of immunotherapy in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, and Roep will contribute to advancing science’s frontiers through his research into T cell and gene therapy approaches to diabetes.

“I am extremely pleased to join the remarkable physicians and researchers at City of Hope, and I look forward to working with them to create new and better options to patients with type 1 diabetes,” Roep said.

Roep earned his master’s degree from the University of Amsterdam and medical degree and Ph.D. from Leiden University.

About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Designated as a comprehensive cancer center, the highest recognition bestowed by the National Cancer Institute, City of Hope is also a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, with research and treatment protocols that advance care throughout the nation. City of Hope’s main hospital is located in Duarte, California, just northeast of Los Angeles, with community clinics in southern California. It is ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" in cancer by U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a pioneer in the fields of bone marrow transplantation and genetics. For more information, visit www.cityofhope.org or follow City of Hope on
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